


Ascension

by amonkeysue



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, StarCraft, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Multi, Science Bros, StarCraft AU, more tags as there are more chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6572929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amonkeysue/pseuds/amonkeysue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a war of massive proportions and unseen enemies, Nick Fury creates the Avengers as his hope in a better tomorrow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seeds of Doubt, Rightfully Sown

**Author's Note:**

> At some point the realization of how perfectly aspects of the MCU and StarCraft story lines could fit together came about and started this grand little idea. If anyone is unfamiliar with StarCraft I'd highly recommend checking it out, but for a very generalized overview: there is a universal fight between the zerg, protoss, and terrans. The zerg are a biological themed alien species who are continually evolving and exist under a hivemind. The protoss are also alien with highly advanced technology and psionic ability. The terrans are essentially humans who have developed technologies to be able to effectively hold their own.

“We are ready to take the fight to the Confederacy,” the green hologram of Alexander Pierce said on the Helicarrier battlecruiser bridge. His message was broadcasting across the whole of the Koprulu sector to anyone allied with SHIELD. Pierce continued, “We have laid under their hand for long enough, we should no longer need to stay in the shadows. I’ve asked a lot of all of you these past years, but I promise that this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Make for Tarsonis. The Confederacy will fall beneath our onslaught. This is our day, our time. I thank you for all you’ve done to get us this far, and I’m asking you, all of you, to do it one last time.”

The transmission ended.

Fury let out a low chuckle. “He’s really pushing his image at the forefront here.” The humor left his voice. “Can’t help but wonder what that means for his goals when this is all over.”

Maria, Clint, and Natasha were nearest to Fury and the only ones to hear his comment.

His second in command nodded. “We knew going into this with Pierce he’d probably try for government.” She looked over as something beeped on the video screen. “Sir, it’s Pierce.” Maria’s tone was tinged with bitter amusement.

Natasha and Clint sidled closer to the screen.

“Put him up,” Fury said after a moment of thought.

Alexander Pierce’s broadly smiling face appeared on the screen. “Nick,” he jovially greeted, “we’re almost there.”

“We’re already on our way to the planet.”

“Good, good. Barton, Romanoff, I’ve got a request to make of you for our assault on Tarsonis. I need the two of you to head into New Washington ahead of the rest of the fleet.” Pierce held up a hand to ward off anything they could say as he explained his desired purpose. “We’re placing the psi emitters there to draw the zerg in.”

Natasha frowned. “There are innocents there.”

“The zerg make no differentiation. It’ll be the fall of everyone there. There won’t be any world left,” Clint said, his own brow knit tight.

“We’re only putting the emitters in the capital, and we need the zerg to wipe out some of the defenses. Yes, there will be civilian casualties, but they will be limited. It’s a sacrifice we have to be willing to make to see our better tomorrow.”

Maria crossed her arms. “How do you plan on taking out the zerg when they’ve done what you want them to do? You can’t just order them off.”

Fury’s good eye was questioningly gazing at Pierce.

The man let a glimmer of irritation show through his jawline tightening. “We’ve come this far, don’t tell me you’re turning away now. Romanoff, you’ve killed plenty of innocents in the past. You should be well prepared for casualties of war. All of you, in case you’ve forgotten, we are at war with the Confederate powers. Sacrifices have to be made, and we’re the ones to make them. We’ll face the guilt, yes, but we will be able to rest easier knowing we have done something great for history.”

Natasha had fallen back a half step. The energy lines on her environment suit glimmered, another reminder of her ghost history, taking out enemies of the Confederacy and whoever her handlers felt like setting her on.

Clint’s arm hovered by her side.

Fury kept his stare. “All we’re trying to ask is the extent of the plan.”

“I’m trusting my best agents to ensure the success of this mission. We may only get one chance. Are you with me, or will I need to consider the Helicarrier an enemy of SHIELD?”

All four facing Pierce maintained blank expressions.

Natasha took a half step forward. “Clint and I get to pick where to put the psi emitters.”

Pierce nodded after a thoughtful moment. “I trust your judgment.”

“We’ll meet in Tarsonis airspace for the emitters,” Fury said after clasping his hands behind his back.

“I’ll see you then,” Pierce agreed.

Maria quickly cut the video feed.

“We can’t drive off the zerg, even with all of SHIELD there,” she sighed.

Natasha offered a one shouldered shrug. “We can draw them straight to the heart of the Confederate defenses. The zerg will break through if they come like they have in the past, but the Confederacy should manage to thin out their ranks. We might just be able to take the rest.”

“Barton,” Fury interjected, “have you kept track of your environment suit? You’ll need it to keep up with Romanoff.”

He let out an airy laugh. “I’ve kept good care of it, sir.”

“The both of you know the drill. Avoid detectors, stay cloaked, conserve your energy. Both of you would be difficult to replace. Stay alive.”

Maria pulled up a star chart on the screen, the Helicarrier’s path for Tarsonis already plotted out amidst the dots. “We don’t have too much time before we’ll reach the planet’s airspace.”

Clint held up his hand. “I’ll go get in my suit.”

“We’ll be ready to go,” Natasha promised. She and Clint started off the bridge in step.

Fury quickly pulled her aside. “You know what you’re working for. Don’t let Pierce’s comments get in the way. Your ghost history isn’t your most defining trait. I didn’t pull you out of the program kicking and screaming, an opportunity fell into your lap and you pursued it. You’re in charge of your own story.”

She faintly smiled. “I know, Nick.”

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t let the zerg get on top of you.”

“I’ll have Clint. We’ll be fine,” she reassured.

“I’ll expect both of you back on board in a timely manner when the mission is over.”

“We can manage that.”

\--

The Helicarrier and Triskelion extended their boarding passageways while Clint and Natasha waited in the appropriate bay until the passageway was cleared for entry.

They were a matching pair in their harsh environment suits, Natasha’s energy lines glimmering blue and Clint’s glimmering purple.

He had coerced a lab tech into altering the color for him, to “keep his aesthetic.”

When Natasha had first heard of his addition, she had wryly asked her partner if he wanted her to punch him so purple bruising could match his aesthetic.

He was 98% sure she had been joking.

Even though he had gotten into her chocolate stash the day before asking for the purple.

One of Pierce’s men (Brock Rumlow, Clint knew, from previous encounters) met them in the Triskelion bay to facilitate passing over the psi emitters. 

“When you’ve got them positioned and locked, all you’ve gotta do is hit the switch here-,” Rumlow began to explain to Clint and Natasha while accordingly pointing to the psi emitter.

“We’ve done this before,” she coolly replied while cutting him off.

Clint covered a small grin behind his hand.

Rumlow paused with his mouth still open before closing it into a straight line and giving a one shouldered shrug. “Just checking. We don’t want any error in the field, especially for something as essential as this.”

After lowering his hand, Clint deadpanned, “Yeah, because the two people asked to do the mission don’t know what they’re doing.”

“I wasn’t questioning your qualifications,” Rumlow said, his voice warm while his gaze was narrowed, “Just offering a procedural reminder. I know what you’re capable of well enough.” He looked specifically at Natasha while saying the last sentence.

She darkly smiled. “Good.”

\--

Two hours out before SHIELD’s planned assault.

A dropship took Natasha, Clint, and the psi emitters to Tarsonis’ surface, taking advantage of a break in the capital’s detection systems.

They offered wishes of safe flying to the dropship pilot before she headed back for the safety of the Helicarrier.

“Think this is gonna blow up in our faces?” Clint ruefully asked.

Natasha hoisted a psi emitter container, thankful for the back strap system someone had devised to work around the canister rifle she and Clint both carried. “We’re dealing with the zerg. They’ll decimate whatever we put in their path. Yeah, it’ll definitely blow up if we get ourselves stuck in the middle.”

He sighed and lightly brushed his hand against Natasha’s before carefully grabbing the other container. “This is the price we pay for getting rid of the Confederacy.”

“We knew we were walking into a war.”

Clint and Natasha both put on a pair of hawk-eyed goggles, the favored ocular device of a Ghost when a full mask wasn’t necessary under the environmental conditions. 

“Still don’t think either of us really knew what a war meant until we got into it.”

Before activating the cloaking feature on her suit, Natasha warmly smiled at Clint. “At least I’ve got a good partner to work through it with.”

He smiled back as her form became a shimmer until he cloaked and activated his goggles so he could see that her own smile was still there. “Yeah, we’re pretty great. No wonder Fury loves us.”

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the fact that Clint couldn’t make out the motion. “And there comes the ego.”

They started walking for New Washington.

“It’s my one flaw.”

“Keep on believing whatever makes you happy,” Natasha scoffed, “You’ve got a lot more than one, Clint Barton, and you know I can provide examples for several of your flaws. I really don’t know that you want me to keep on going with this.”

Clint chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll call that good if you’re willing to leave it there. Nat, you always humble me.”

“It’s not an easy job, but someone has to keep you in line.”

The goggles made a wink a bad form of nonverbal communication, to Clint’s dismay.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Natasha teased, “I could still start listing off examples of your flaws. New Washington isn’t just around the corner.”

Tarsonis’ capital, the heart of Confederate power, was a visible cityscape above the horizon.

He held a hand over his heart. “Oh, I’m hurt.” Clint adjusted his goggle view to zoom in on the city’s edges. “Outer edges have some well-spaced missile turrets, don’t know how well they’re guarded or watched. Getting in without being detected could be fun, though I’m not seeing any sign of anyone actually being there.”

“The bluff is well protected. Down here, they probably haven’t kept such a good eye on the flat’s protections, figuring they’ll see any threat coming a long time before they can get anywhere close to the city.”

“Let’s hope no one thinks to look at the detectors down here.”

Natasha resisted the urge to nod. “Once we get past the turrets, they shouldn’t have too many detectors until we get closer to downtown. We’ll be fine.”

The turrets continued spinning in the distance. If Natasha squinted she could make out the double layers of missiles awaiting a target to launch at.

She was fairly certain entering the city would go without a hitch. Regardless, she was still thankful that the missile turrets were only an anti-air defense system.

Clint was quiet for several moments. “You’re picking up on my worry for how this is gonna go. Sorry about that.”

Somehow Natasha managed out a laugh. “I still don’t know how the Ghost program didn’t get a hold of you.” 

Not that she would have wished the rigors of the program upon Clint, or anyone.

He lightly huffed. “And I’m still pretty sure that you’re the only one with enough psychic ability to count as talented, though I will consent to you that I might be a little bit.” If they hadn’t been in the field, he might have pinched his fingers together to show Natasha how much he meant. “Only a very small amount though.”

She ignored the comment. “We’re both a little bit worried.” Natasha paused. “We’ve seen what the zerg can do plenty of times before. Acts of war or not… there’s no justice for the collateral.”

“Even if we get the Confederacy cleared from the planet, if we can’t clear out the zerg, the protoss will just come in and ‘purify’ the planet. It may have to stop being the sector’s governing planet, period.”

Natasha was silent for a long moment. “We’ll worry about that if it happens.”

The missile turret’s tower gears could easily be made out from Clint and Natasha’s remaining distance to New Washington’s outer edges.

They stopped talking, communicating through practiced hand gestures which way they were moving up to the extents of one missile turret’s range.

“Here we go,” Clint murmured, low enough for Natasha not to hear.

She took the first step, Clint following right behind her. 

No Confederate marines came running out to them. No evacuation alarms sounded. The only sound anywhere close to them was the slow whirring of the missile turret’s gears as it spun.

They cleared the range and entered into New Washington.

Natasha ducked into a doorway and uncloaked. “Clint?” she softly asked, as he slipped into the doorway beside her and also uncloaked, “which way do we want to start?”

He peeked around the doorway. “If we keep on going for a couple blocks, we shouldn’t have to worry about running into too many people, so we can let the cloaking energy build up again before we enter the city proper.”

“Let’s make it a straight jaunt for the zerg.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They stepped out of the doorway and stuck close to the building’s shadows as they carefully advanced down the street until reaching a wide intersection.

“Over there?” Clint pointed across the street to a building with an alcove.

Natasha nodded. “Yours or mine?”

He adjusted his psi emitter strap on his shoulder. “We can do yours.”

“Barton,” she warned, “you had better not be trying to give me some self-sacrifice crap. We’ve dealt with worse than a damned psi emitter.”

Clint nearly chuckled. “I know.” His tone went solemn and he glanced down. “It is just self-sacrifice crap though. If this goes sour, I want you to be able to get out for extraction and leave me to the suicidal psi emitter activating.”

She tipped his chin up for him to look at her straight. “Don’t. We’re in this together. I’m going to put my psi emitter in that alcove and set up the remote activation and then we are going to cloak and go to the other side of New Washington so we can set up your psi emitter and then we are both going to get the hell out of here before the zerg show up. Together.”

“Right.” Clint nodded. “Okay.”

“Are we good?”

“Yeah.”

Natasha lowered her hand and went across the street for the alcove, slinging the psi emitter off her back as she moved. Clint waited until she was several steps away from him before following. 

The psi emitter fit comfortably in the alcove.

“Hold that,” she murmured as he slightly leaned over her shoulder.

Clint kept the proffered lever upright while Natasha raised an antenna off the emitter. After pressing in a panel on the side and popping open a drawer, she grabbed a small remote, tucking it into her belt pocket as she stood.

“All set.”

“Midtown?”

“I’m sure there’s a big statue we can put the last emitter by.”

They went only another block before cloaking. Natasha shifted her canister rifle into her hands. In the midst of Confederacy territory, it was best to be prepared for anything.

“Guard,” Clint whispered, holding out an arm to motion Natasha to stay back. He lowered it as she raised the canister rifle, lining up her shot with an experienced sniper’s ease of movement.

The guard collapsed.

Clint and Natasha took off at a run, hoping to clear the area before anyone could notice the downed guard.

She stopped just as they reached the central square’s edges. “Wait,” Natasha exhaled. She adjusted the view on her goggles and scanned around the area before pointing beyond the statue of some old government official. “Marine squadron patrolling the other end. I can’t find any form of detection on them though, so we should be fine.”

“I’ll go first, just in case.”

“Barton,” she softly hissed, “we went over this.”

He defensively held up a hand. “I know. But I’m setting up this emitter, so I’m going in first. I promise it really is that simple, Nat.”

“You only get to use that excuse once,” she consented after a moment.

“Great.” 

Clint broke into a run for the center of the square.

Natasha jogged, turning to keep her back to Clint as she kept on looking around, half expecting something to happen.

They installed the psi emitter without a hitch.

“Here we go.” Clint took a deep breath before activating it as Natasha pulled out the remote, ready to activate the first emitter.

Warning sirens sounded and the marine squadron paused before hurrying for a bunker discreetly located near the main road’s entrance to the square.

Clint looked at Natasha. “That’s a problem.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the corner opposite of the bunker. “Out of the square!”

Both immediately stopped as they heard a distant inhuman roar coming from the direction of the path they had originally taken.

Natasha paled. “The first emitter must have activated on its own. They’re already here.”

More marine squadrons were pouring into the square to man the remaining bunkers. Siege tanks were rolling in from the main street to position in lines behind the bunkers by each large entrance. A Wraith and Viking squadron whizzed past overhead.

Similar military movements were happening across the whole of New Washington.

“Grab your rifle,” Natasha ordered Clint once they were under a building’s eaves, “I’m radioing the Helicarrier.” She stood still for a moment. “How many?!”

Clint pulled her out of a running marine’s path. 

“They’re coming from this way too!” he overheard the marine yell.

“The outside defenses had better hold long enough for the SCVs to get some missile turrets up in here!” another from the same squadron yelled back.

At least the part of the plan where the Confederacy scrambled about to counteract the sudden zerg threat was working well.

Natasha leaned against the wall with a heavy groan.

“What’s the verdict?” Clint quietly asked.

“The zerg are dropping into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. Sending in a dropship through them and into the center of the city, with zerg on all sides, isn’t happening.”  
He took a second to think before replying. “No extraction.”

“And they’ve already established hatcheries beyond the city limits. On the other side apparently there are rich minerals and some of the city’s vespene storage. There isn’t going to be a break in their numbers anytime soon, unless if the Confederacy has developed a new trick.”

“Which is doubtful,” Clint finished with a grimace. Fairly certain that the bunkers near their hiding place were fully manned, he stepped forward to look out from under the building’s overhang.

Mutalisks were amassing on the horizon.

A transmission from the Helicarrier reached both his and Natasha’s ears. “Still doesn’t look likely for evac,” Maria told them, “but a protoss war fleet is approaching the planet. They might actually be helpful here.”

“Not if we get caught in the crossfire,” Clint muttered.

“Barton, we trust that you and Romanoff know how to handle yourself around any of their warriors. Keep your head on straight, you’ll be fine.”

Natasha adjusted her hold on her canister rifle. “Make sure you’re fully loaded. This is going to be rough.”

“I’m trying to map out a path for our best pilots, and I might get one. Once the Confederacy gets some missile turrets up though, that’s going to make it way more difficult to get to you,” Maria said.

“We’ll get wherever you need us to go.”

Clint nodded in agreement with Natasha’s statement. “Give us coordinates whenever you’ve got it cleared.”

Maria paused before saying, “Cause some trouble for them down there.”

“Yes ma’am.”

They dropped the radio line.

Before a second could pass, Natasha asked Clint, “Where do you want to go? I don’t entirely trust these marines not to hit one of us from the bunkers, and I don’t want to sneak past them if we don’t have to with those SCVs on the way.”

“Head for their first line of defense, or whatever line is closest from us to the outskirts? It could give us an idea of when to try and skirt around any incoming forces.”

“Keep an eye on your cloak, too.”

“Someone really needs to engineer a continual cloak on these things.”

“If we survive this, you can find someone to do that.”

They headed away from the square in the direction the second marine squadron had come from.

Both involuntarily jumped as a zerg… something whizzed past overhead, ejecting zerglings and hydralisks just a few blocks over.

Clint didn’t pay attention to whether or not Natasha made any sound as they immediately broke into a sprint, working themselves as far away as possible from this new form of threat. 

Even if a missile turret could alert the Confederacy to their presence, at least it could also shoot down the sacs before their inhabitants could make landfall.

The booming sounds of the siege tank cannons echoed off the deserted streets, accompanied by the thud of the missile turret’s longbolt missiles. Distant gunfire and the strange screams of the zerg were heard in between the mechanized shots.

Natasha and Clint rounded a corner to take them back onto one of the main streets of New Washington. They immediately stopped upon sight of the marred roadway.

“Burrowed zerglings.”

“Could be some hydralisks in there too unless if some of the zerglings burrowed close together,” Natasha grimly noted. She and Clint edged back around the corner. “We’re taking a different route.”

Cloaked or not, they weren’t wanting to take on an effective minefield of zerg.

Clint stopped in front of a news station building and gestured at it with his rifle. “We need to find out how their outer defenses are holding. I imagine they’ve got a pretty good view up there.”

“Better hope the elevator hasn’t locked down or something,” Natasha wryly replied as she tried the door, “I don’t know if you could keep up on the stairs.”

He whistled. “I’m hurt.”

The door had been left unlocked in the rush to evacuate to shelter, making it easy for Clint and Natasha to step inside. 

Rather than try the stairs, they took the fully functional elevator to the roof.

They had seen the zerg at work before. The sheer number of zerg at New Washington was like nothing either of them had seen before. Zerglings, hydralisks, and ultralisks came for the city defenses on all sides in seemingly endless waves. Mutalisks darted in and out as the ground forces hammered at the missile turrets.

It was difficult to tell from the height, but there may have been new zerg variations in the mix.

Across the zerg waves, they could distantly see protoss forces.

“There’s no way these defenses are going to hold for much longer.”

“We’ll be easy targets up here.”

“Hopefully they’ve got backup bunkers somewhere in the streets,” Clint sighed.

Her eyes still trained on the approaching zerg attack, Natasha reached for his hand and comfortingly squeezed. “No self-sacrifice crap.”

Clint squeezed back and repeated Natasha’s words, “No self-sacrifice crap.”

An ultralisk swipe brought the first major break in the Confederate defense line as Clint and Natasha descended through the news station building.

When they reached the ground floor, they barely managed to get out the doors and into a park area before the ground began to vibrate beneath them as the zerg flooded the streets of New Washington.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it to a bunker.”

Clint made no effort to sound humorous. “It was worth a shot.”

They stood at an angled back to back, a building behind them providing cover for 180 degrees.

Natasha swallowed. “Clint?”

“Natasha?”

“Thank you.”

“Hey now.” He disapprovingly clucked his tongue. “Weren’t you just barely talking about no self-sacrifice crap?”

She huffed with a strained air of amusement. “This many zerg, this is just a final stand.”

“I was hoping you weren’t going to say that.” Clint let his anxiety slip into his voice. “Maybe Maria will be able to get a dropship to us.”

“There’s no reasonable extraction plan. Just you and me.”

The zerg were getting closer.

“At least we’ve still got some cloaking. That should save our necks a little bit.”

“Clint Barton, you are-.” Natasha stopped as a shadow passed by overhead.

“Well hell,” Clint murmured as he raised his canister rifle to the shooting position. Behind him, Natasha did the same. “Should’ve anticipated an overlord would ruin our plans.”

Hydralisks and zerglings came swarming through the park and the surrounding streets, headed straight for Clint and Natasha now that they were detectable.

They began to fire. Each downed zerg carcass was quickly trampled over by its swarm-mates. 

Natasha pushed Clint out of the way of a hydralisk spine and barely avoided getting hit herself. “You focus on the overlord! If they can’t detect us, they won’t know where to attack!” she yelled at him.

Clint followed her order and aimed up, hoping against the reasonable odds that Natasha could keep off the zerg for the time it would take to kill the overlord.

He blinked as the overlord exploded in a shower of guts and blood from a kill shot that had definitely not come from him.

A small group of Vikings landed on the other side of the park and began to attack the gathered zerg, who were all too happy to focus on the visible targets.

Their environment suits were blood spattered, but they were still alive.

“Those aren’t ours,” Natasha panted, referring to the Vikings.

“Doesn’t matter. They just saved us, and they’re about to be overwhelmed.”

They looked at each other and silently slipped out of the park, sticking close to the overhang of the building they had been using as cover.

Natasha groaned at the echo of an ultralisk’s roar off the surrounding buildings. “This isn’t a battleground. It’s a slaughter.”

“Least we’re-.”

Maria cut Clint off. “The Triskelion is positioned so that they could get a dropship to you. They’re- sir?!”

Clint and Natasha’s cloaking flickered out.

Their coms crackled.

“Uh… Maria? What’s happening?”

Natasha went on one knee and leaned over, resting her hand flat against the ground.

Clint did not miss her shaken look as she stood and turned towards him.

“There’s a little bit of everything headed straight in this direction.” She briefly faltered. “I think they may be slightly attuned to me.”

“And both the Helicarrier and Triskelion are unresponsive. Great.” Clint rolled his shoulders back. “Maria cut me off earlier, but I… I’m so glad I met you.”

“Clint Barton,” she murmured, “we’ve been amazing partners.”

A building collapsed a few streets away in a plume of dust. Another overlord drifted past overhead, mutalisks and scourges following directly behind who were heading for the Confederacy’s final layers of defense.

Without a word, Clint pulled Natasha into a swift hug before facing the oncoming zerg wave with his canister rifle at the ready.

He tried to stop as many zerglings as possible with every shot while Natasha focused on picking off approaching hydralisks and mutalisks. They kept on stepping backwards in an effort not to get surrounded.

There was no stopping the zerg.

Natasha yelled Clint’s name and reached for his hand.

\--

Fury and Maria could only watch as more zerg blips came up on their radar scan, completely obscuring Clint and Natasha’s dots.

“Pierce’s communications jam is still in range,” Maria said through grit teeth as she tried for the umpteenth time to contact Clint or Natasha.

Softly, Fury replied, “Don’t know that we want to hear anything right now from them anyhow.”

His hands were balled into fists. The Triskelion had been in prime position to send a dropship in to extract Clint and Natasha and get them back aboard a SHIELD aligned vessel. Rather than move in, Pierce had ordered the troops to retreat from the planet, lest the incoming protoss carriers target them.

He had knowingly left Clint and Natasha to die, all while smoothly talking to Fury.

“The zerg have wiped out the Confederacy defenses.”

“I need to talk to Carter.”

Maria forced herself to look away from the radar, prompted by the urgency in Fury’s tone. “Sir?”

Fury’s mouth was set in a hard line as he looked out the bridge window. “We’re both abandoning Pierce, it would seem.” He let out a defeated sigh. “Never thought he’d turn out like this.”

“And now we’re two manned battlecruisers versus the entirety of the rest of SHIELD if we try and say anything.” Maria shook her head and crossed her arms. “Damn him.”

“We need to avenge Barton and Romanoff. If Carter agrees, I’ve got an idea.”

A beep sounded from the video screen and Fury stood to put the connection through before Maria could step back.

“Nicholas,” Peggy Carter tensely greeted, “we appear to be all that’s left of SHIELD’s true core.”

“We need to rebuild.”

“I’ll try and reach a few contacts.”

Fury nodded. “Don’t think we want to stick around in zerg and protoss filled airspace for too much longer.”

Maria had gone back to watch the radar and pulled up the star map at Fury’s comment. She took a second to verify that the movement she saw was in fact there before interrupting Fury and Peggy’s conversation, her mouth dry. “The protoss forces are also leaving. I think it’s safe to assume they’ve decided to purify the planet.”

“At least Pierce can’t have it,” Peggy softly said.

Another beep sounded from the video screen to indicate an incoming transmission. Fury put it up and was surprised to see he was talking to one of the protoss.

“Greetings, Terran leader. I request your permission to dock by your battlecruiser.”

Eyebrows raised, Fury asked, “Do you want our approval to burn the planet this time? In this circumstance, I’d already give you a yes.”

“We rescued three Terrans from the zerg onslaught and the Executor ordered us to give the two that have survived into your care. May we dock?”

“You’ve got clearance.”

No one was being left to die on Fury’s watch.

“I thank you.”

The protoss ambassador cut the transmission.

Peggy cleared her throat. “If they’re military personnel, our resources for neural retraining are more than a little strained at the moment.”

“I still know a few tricks.” Fury started to head off the bridge. “Hill, keep us lined up and order Coulson to prep the docking bay.” He didn’t wait for her affirmative reply before exiting.

He opened the docking bay door as soon as the airlock was resealed.

The protoss he had talked to first exited, followed by the rescued Terrans. One had the other’s arm around their shoulders and an arm around their waist for support. Zerg blood was smeared and spattered all over their suits.

Clint was heavily leaning on Natasha. One side of his head was covered in what appeared to be his own blood. His canister rifle was loosely strapped on his free shoulder.

At the end of the ramp, Natasha raised her head and barely managed a pained smile. “Sorry, we’re late.”

Fury coughed back his rising emotion, though he let his relief shine through. “I’ll let it pass this time, Romanoff.”

“We tried to help the male one,” the protoss ambassador interjected, “but his hearing cannot fully be restored.”

Fury turned and nodded. “Thank you. We’re deeply indebted to the protoss today.”

The ambassador made no responsive movement. “I suspect there will be ample future opportunity to repay that debt.” It turned and started back into the ship.

“Clint needs to go to the med bay,” Natasha murmured.

“Both of you need to go to the med bay. I know some of that blood is yours.”

Natasha’s reply was quiet. “More of it is actually Clint’s.”

Clint’s head perked up as he vaguely heard his name, and as he spoke his words slurred together. “’s not terrible.” 

Fury supported his other side and helped Natasha get him through the docking bay door to allow the airlock to reopen. “As commander of this battlecruiser, I’m ordering both of you to the med bay, so help me. I already thought we’d lost you once today.”

“Pierce left us stranded.”

“You can worry about that later. Don’t think I can’t tell you’re limping from a few zergling scratches, at minimum. I’m going to hope a hydralisk didn’t get close enough to try and cleave you.”

Natasha grimaced. “A lot happened down there.” She briefly paused. “How’re we handling Pierce?”

“The Avengers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an FYI, in the overall story plan this is the most game mechanics inclined chapter. :) (If anything seems a little out there, I can definitely elaborate on the function/design in the comments! The StarCraft universe is fascinating, but it can also be a lot to take in!)  
> [There also is a little edit made for this chapter here.](http://widowsresolve.tumblr.com/post/142916304584/clintasha-week-day-6-aucrossover-ive-been)


	2. Assembly

Peggy finished skimming through the dossiers Fury had presented her and cast him an indiscriminate look.

“You have earmarked some interesting selections.”

He nodded once. “It’s a bit of a risk, but I do believe they can work together. And we need them to.”

“They could be as dangerous to us as they would be to whatever we’re facing at any given time, not to mention that you don’t even know where some of their allegiances might lie. Our position is only convincing for those already thinking and acting similarly.” She pointedly tapped her fingers on the conference table. “This is a very large risk.”

“I’m only here to ask your opinion. I’ve already made up my mind. We need something unexpected to hold against Pierce.”

Peggy couldn’t help but smile. “And how many of them have you already contacted?”

“At the moment, I’ve only talked to Barton and Romanoff about this. They’re willing to help,” Fury said. His expression briefly darkened before he added on, “Once he’s back on his feet, so to speak.”

The smile Peggy had adopted vanished at the allusion to Clint’s status. “The lab did an excellent job with the hearing aids and Barton is very capable. He’ll adjust and heal quickly enough, Nicholas.” Before he could offer any sort of reply, she pulled up the files of Fury’s remaining selections and pointed to one. “You’re lucky Erskine was with me. I’ll call Rogers in for you. A familiar face may be better.”

“I’ll send word to contact the others. We can use the Helicarrier to meet rather than selecting an obscure planet.”

Fury stood.

“I do hope the Avengers work,” Peggy said as he turned to leave. Almost despite herself, she smiled again before lightly asking, “And out of curiosity, have you any idea who let a man named Thor operate one of the things?”

Fury chuckled and glanced back. “I’ll put that on my list of questions.”

\--

There were four new faces in the conference room. While Fury had reasons for every single person to be there, Natasha had offered her own judgement after seeing them all together.

Sitting across the table from her and reading through the files of everyone present was Steve Rogers. 

He had grown up sickly and small, but had always wanted to fight. Over the years he had repeatedly tried to join the Confederacy’s Marines program only to be repeatedly turned away due to his physical limitations. His childhood friend Bucky had exhibited enough psionic ability in their later years that the Confederacy took an interest. In trying to find some way to find his friend, Steve stumbled across SHIELD and happily joined.

Natasha would never understand why, but he had agreed to be a recipient of an experimental ‘super soldier’ experiment that proved to be successful on him. He had operated with SHIELD, sabotaging Confederate operations with a part of his team. The command infrastructure had landed him into Peggy’s sphere of influence, he had leadership ability, and he had made his thoughts on Pierce very obvious after a run-in about a year earlier.

A prime candidate for leading the Avengers.

Beside Steve sat Bruce Banner, who was writing some sort of calculation or formula down in a pocket-sized notebook.

The man himself was notable for his scientific pursuits, many of which had been possible due to his former position as a professor at the most highly esteemed Confederate university. He had left the university after a failed experiment with radiation and zerg subjects had given him a violent, angry secondary side. 

It had taken time to bring into control, during which Bruce had fled to avoid capture and further experimentation. ‘The Hulk’ had become a facet of his being that he wanted to keep well away from anywhere he could cause harm.

He would have to be asked to join the Avengers as a scientist, not a living tank.

They could have one of those in Thor.

The planet of Asgard had largely kept itself free from Confederate control and kept its own ruling body. Thor was a prince under their system and at some point in time had been able to command a Thor mech in defending against zerg and protoss forces.

After a skirmish with some protoss he had stumbled across a formerly buried cavern, inside of which he had discovered a large hammer. Testing confirmed it was ancient and alien in design, and Thor discovered it was reactive to him and could seemingly summon lightning along with providing limited flight.

The files didn’t go into detail, but something had happened between Thor and his brother Loki, encouraging him to search from planet to planet while simultaneously assisting with any fights against the zerg or protoss with his hammer. Occasionally he had helped against Confederate forces. 

Without knowing more, it was difficult to say what Thor would do.

Apparently done with waiting, Tony Stark stood. “Is Fury ever going to come ask if we decide to join this little squad of his?”

“He’s checking to see if the medics will allow Barton to leave yet,” Natasha instantly replied. She kept from looking at the empty chair beside her.

Something apologetic flitted over Tony’s expression. “We’ll wait.”

His father had helped to pioneer advancements in combat and travel technology and Tony had kept Stark Enterprises following the same path after his death. He sold upgrades to the highest bidder and continued to work on weaponry until after being attacked and kidnapped by a rebel group. He only broke away through designing a variation of the Marine armor out of scraps, and once he was back home he refined his work into a far lighter and agile model, complete with built-in firepower.

Only Tony had needed to have a battery plugged into his chest to keep from dying after the attack, and in his refining he created an arc reactor to do the job and power his suit model. While halting general weapons production from his industry, he tried to take matters into his own hands, but was limited by his only being one person.

He wanted to help people. Being a part of the Avengers, that would be easier.

As Steve finished with the files the door to the conference room slid open. Fury and Clint walked through.

“As you have all been made aware,” Fury began to say without offering any greeting, “I’ve asked you here today to discuss joining a specialized team I’m calling the Avengers.”

While he briefly recounted what had occurred with the Confederacy and Pierce, Clint sat beside Natasha and leaned over to whisper, “You’d think for all our advancements in medical tech they’d be more willing to let me leave.”

“To be fair, you did have injuries a little more substantive than cuts and bruises.”

“I didn’t have an arm mauled off.”

“That would’ve been easier.”

“Oh yeah.” Clint stopped as Fury momentarily looked at him and Natasha. Rather than shift under his gaze, he reached for her hand under the table.

“And what exactly would you need us to do?” Bruce asked.

“Work together, respond to a situation. The details need work but we would like to dismantle the empire Pierce is building for himself. Doctor, we could use your expertise and assistance outside of the field, but I’m not going to stop you from stepping in if you would want.”

Bruce drily replied, “The Other Guy never struck me as a team player.”

“And this operation would benefit from having someone who can run analysis and work on predicting zerg movements.”

Everyone looked at Bruce.

Steve raised a brow. “You can predict where they’ll be?”

“Kind of,” Bruce begrudgingly began to explain with a sigh, “ever since the… accident I occasionally get a sense of what they want and where they’re headed. I’m led to believe that they operate as a hive mind and I effectively managed to tap into their signal.” He shifted in his chair.

For a moment, Tony gawked before whistling. “You and I seriously need to sit down and talk.”

“Got anyone on hand to help with the protoss?” Steve asked Fury.

Thor shifted slightly forward. “I cannot guarantee that they would be willing, but I know several people who might be able to help in predicting what the protoss will do.”

“You can tell me about that after this,” Fury said while putting his arms behind his back, “I trust that you all understand the severity of the threats we face. As what I consider to be SHIELD goes, our resources and forces are limited, but that is only temporary. The Avengers would be unique, and that will encourage certain challenges to arise. But it may just be exactly what we need to bring positive change and find some way to bring an end to this fighting.”

Silence followed for a moment.

Tony leaned back. “I’m in. If credits can help with resources issues I can also help with that.”

Barely needing to look over to Clint to verify that he was in agreement, Natasha slightly lifted her hand off the table. “We’re already here.”

Steve and Thor started to talk at the same time. “I’m in.”

Bruce hesitated before saying, “If I can stay in a lab.”

Only Natasha and Clint caught Fury’s hint of a smile. “Welcome to the Avengers, everyone.” He paused. “For now we’re operating from the Helicarrier, a SHIELD planetside base is still being determined.” 

“We could build a tower,” Tony wryly suggested.

“I think we’ll start with selecting a planet before tossing around construction ideas,” Fury said in response while casting Tony an inscrutable look.

He leaned back in his chair and gave a casual shrug. “Just a suggestion.”

“You’ve been heard.” Fury looked at Thor. “Let’s talk about these people who may know about predicting the protoss.”

Tony waited until after Thor and Fury had stepped out of the room before turning towards Clint. “If you want anything tinkered with that medical may have played too safe with, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

To the side Bruce and Steve curiously raised an eyebrow in near unison.

“I think the medics know what’s best in the situation,” Bruce said.

Clint nodded at Tony. “I don’t need super hearing or anything, but thanks for the offer.”

“I’ll still leave it available.”

“There are a few more important things for you to worry about working on than what’s already been taken care of.”

“I’ve got to pester Fury about some lab space before I get started on any new projects for the Avengers and I can work on a few suits easily enough.” Tony turned his attention towards Bruce. “Actually, while he’s busy talking with Thor, we should talk. I’d love to hear about your research and-.”

“Mr. Stark,” Steve drily interrupted, “Doctor Banner is only here as a scientist. Any personal curiosity about the Hulk would be inappropriate to ask after.”

Bruce held up a hand before Tony could say anything back. “Thanks for the sentiment, but I wouldn’t have come here if I couldn’t handle curiosities. I think I can handle Mr. Stark’s questions, and,” he looked at Tony, “I’ve got a few questions about your work as well.”

Tony smiled at Bruce and started to walk out of the room before stopping and looking over his shoulder towards Steve, Clint, and Natasha. “If the three of you don’t mind us stepping out?”

Natasha dismissively waved her hand towards Tony. “If you missed it coming in there’s another conference room a few doors down to the left that should be available if you don’t want to have to wander too far.”

“Got it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, if there do happen to be any StarCraft lore specific details that you'd want some clarification/expansion on as it comes up, feel free to comment!


	3. Card to Play

It took some time to get things further off the ground, but Fury’s work at rebuilding to SHIELD’s prior ability and resources had taken off, his connections successfully reaching out to those willing to ally themselves with him.

Pierce’s own rebuilding had been going on in light of the fall of the Confederacy as he worked to step into power under the new name of the Dominion. Responses to him had varied, but for the most part there were plenty of people who were glad to see someone stepping in after what had happened to Tarsonis, or they were far enough away from what had been Confederate control not to care who was actually in charge.

Peggy had agreed with Fury that they would keep the title of SHIELD as Pierce established himself.

Tony and Bruce had provided plenty of suggestions for what Fury needed to look for as needed science materials and personnel went. Some of them were taken into consideration. Some earned Tony an even glare from Fury for mentioning.

As the Avengers went, they had all started trying to figure how they would work as a team. It was easy to say they would work together, another thing to develop the trust necessary to do so. They needed to figure out how their respective strengths and weaknesses could play off each other, and the Helicarrier was decidedly not the best place to do it, but they only had so many resources.

All the same, in the little time they had spent together something of a groove had begun to develop, largely thanks to the daily team exercises that Steve had encouraged.  
Natasha and Clint had gone to see if Tony and Bruce needed to be torn away from their new lab equipment for the day’s exercise when they found Thor already in the nearby lab with two women.

“He looks happy to see them,” Clint stopped to say, looking through the glass into the lab.

“They’re probably the people he had mentioned who could help track the protoss.”

“Maybe we should introduce ourselves.”

She held back a smile. “Not too eager about Steve’s bonding exercise idea?”

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “I get where he’s coming from but it just feels like it’ll end up being awkward by nature today.”

They both looked over as Thor started to move towards the lab door.

“Your introductions are definitely in order,” Natasha bemusedly murmured to Clint before Thor opened the door.

“Hello!” he told them, “If you have the time I could introduce you to SHIELD’S newly resident protoss experts!”

Behind Thor, one of the women leaned over to casually whisper something to the other.

“I was wondering when they were going to show up after you mentioned them to Fury,” Clint lightly said as he and Natasha followed Thor back into the lab. He nodded towards the two women. “Glad you were willing and able to join us.”

“I think we’re just glad that someone else is finally taking us seriously.” The woman who spoke semi-awkwardly waved at Clint and Natasha. “Hi, I’m Darcy Lewis.”

The other woman gave a small wave of her own. “And I’m Jane Foster. We also work with Erik Selvig, but he stepped out a bit ago to snag some food.” Jane smiled. “Thor was actually just telling us about you.”

Behind them, the lab door opened. “Are you having a party in here without us?” Tony lightly asked as he and Bruce stepped into the lab. “Heads up Romanoff, we made it out of the lab on our own today.”

She gave Tony a small sideways nod. “You missed the proper introductions.”

“Then I’ll start.” He pointed at himself. “I’m Tony Stark.”

“Er, and I’m Bruce Banner. We’ll probably end up doing some coordinating in what we know between the zerg and the protoss.”

Darcy’s eyes slightly widened. “So you’re the zerg guy.”

Bruce looked a little sheepish. “Something like that. But how exactly do you track the protoss anyhow, Miss …?”

“Darcy Lewis.”

“Jane Foster.”

Recognition flashed through Bruce’s eyes. “Doctor Foster! So your research ultimately brought you to the protoss? That’s-.”

Natasha cast Clint a bemused look as Bruce started.

“Wait, hold on a second.” Tony pointedly looked from Bruce to Jane as he interrupted. “How exactly do you know each other?”

Jane attempted a casual shrug. “We were researchers in neighboring departments back at the university. It’s also where I met Darcy to begin with.”

“They kept tight lips about what had happened with you,” Darcy commented to Bruce.

He gave an awkward chuckle. “I didn’t exactly become the posterchild for the best research practices and if no one knew exactly about me the door was open for possible experimentation without anyone caring.” While he spoke Bruce moved closer to Jane and Darcy. “But you’re also not at the university anymore.”

“Erik Selvig too, he’s with us.”

Bruce was about to say something more when Thor cut him off while waving towards the door. “Steve seems to have come looking for us.”

Clint turned to look. “We have all disappeared on him.”

It only took a few more seconds before Steve was opening the lab door. “Fury wants to see us on the bridge. Sounds like he has something he wants us to work on.”

“Anything more specific to go off of?” Tony asked.

Steve shook his head. “He didn’t give me details.”

“We’re still in the process of getting settled in and I think we can manage that on our own, so you don’t need to feel obligated to stay and help us with anything.” Jane primarily looked at Thor as she spoke.

He nodded towards her. “I’ll come back later.”

All the other Avengers exchanged subtle questioning glances about the exchange before they started to follow Steve towards the bridge, leaving Darcy and Jane in the lab.

“I’ve been hearing about some Dominion forces happening to amass on Krelar, which isn’t too far from us presently. It’s possible that’s where Fury’s interested in,” Bruce thought aloud.

“Could also be something to do with the rumor of a protoss war fleet wandering close,” Steve said.

Natasha raised an eyebrow as they walked. “Could be, but SHIELD still is existent enough as a force that I doubt we’re needed to strictly run defense if that is the case, and that’s if the protoss would even be interested in engaging us. The Helicarrier is a well-equipped battlecruiser, for one.”

Thor helped to hold the door to the lift open for the others. “It’s always possible that the protoss are anticipating the zerg too.”

“I’d be happy not to have to deal with the zerg again quite yet.” Clint’s tone was light, though he spoke with a frown.

Tony opted to be the one to press the button for the bridge. “Guess we’ll find out what all Fury has in mind for us soon enough. Though one last speculation before we get there: you all know that Pierce is planning a victory tour, right? I can see how Fury might want to mess that up.”

“He’s not alone.” Natasha crossed her arms. “Though if he suspected anything coming from us Pierce is familiar with how SHIELD has tended to operate.”

“SHIELD, not the Avengers.”

“Somehow I don’t think Pierce should be our first time officially working together in the field as the Avengers. We still have to figure out what we need to work on to be fully functional and efficient,” Clint drily said in response to Steve.

The lift doors opened onto the bridge.

Maria greeted the team as they stepped out. “He’s by the starmap,” she told them before stepping into the lift herself.

On the holographic image of the surrounding sector of space visualized by the starmap, the planet labeled as Krelar was surrounded by several battleships. A few protoss carriers were positioned further off. There were no known zerg structures visible in the sector, but that was no true guarantee of whether or not they were present, and Bruce still was working at fully establishing his detecting set-up.

Fury waited for them all to better gather around the starmap before he started to address the team. “We’ve found a small Dominion outpost on Tyrador III that’s got a few Ghost guards. Obviously we haven’t been able to get inside, but since it appears to have formerly been under Confederate control and the level of security we’re guessing it’s a research facility.”

“Didn’t realize we were an infiltration squad,” Tony murmured.

Fury focused his good eye on him. “We are going to try and not be too obvious, but while we want to be discreet getting in, overall I am all too happy to let Pierce know that we are going to contest with him.”

“What sort of research facility?” Bruce cut in to ask.

“We’re not certain, but I want Stark and you, if you’re comfortable with that, to determine that once you’re inside and to see what we can use or if it needs to be destroyed.” Fury had the starmap focus on Tyrador III. “With a few dropships, we ought to be able to get all of you to the planet’s surface without being noticed. Barton, Romanoff, and Rogers will eliminate the Ghosts and any other guards. Thor, I don’t believe your mech will be necessary on this venture but with your hammer you can be a second wave or a distraction as needed with Stark and Banner, if-.”

“Some of these smaller planets were prime areas for secret zerg experiments, so my expertise could be very useful inside the facility.” Bruce nodded at Fury. “I’ll go in.”

Natasha slightly shifted her stance to get Fury’s attention. “Do we have a more detailed view than a holograph of the planet the facility is on?”

“Here.” Fury pulled up a closer image of the Tyrador III facility on a nearby screen. “My reports from the surface have seen what they guess to be two separate Ghosts here and here.” He pointed to the appropriate locations on the image. “There possibly is a third one here, but it’s also possible that it could be one of the same Ghosts from elsewhere.”

“They definitely have something to keep safe with two or three Ghosts,” Clint said while moving closer to the image of the facility.

“Rogers, do you have an environment suit?” Natasha didn’t look away from the image as she asked.

Steve shook his head. “Only armored tactical wear. No cloaking technology equipped.”

“Can we fix that?”

Fury’s response was almost immediate. “Not quickly enough with our current resources. I want to get this done quickly before anything can change.”

“Once those Ghosts are taken care of, I ought to be able to take care of that bunker,” Thor interjected, pointing towards the screen.

The others went quiet for a moment.

“Single handedly?” Tony verified.

Thor shrugged. “Given the Ghosts and other security with the facility I imagine they are not too concerned with fully manning the bunker, but regardless, so long as I do not have to worry about exterior attacks I should be able to manage it perfectly well.”

“You sure you don’t want any help from my suits or anything?”

Steve gave him a curious look. “I thought your new design still needed to be tested.”

“In the field testing works.”

“It’s dangerous-.”

Natasha cut Steve off. “Thor said he’ll take the bunker alone, which we can work with. Clint, Rogers, and I can come from the east and see about that possible third Ghost before taking care of the other two. From there we can enter the facility and take out inside security while Thor takes the bunker. Once the facility is secure Stark and Banner will see about the research.”

“When do you want us on the surface?” Clint asked Fury.

“We’re currently heading towards the planet and soon after we reach the upper atmosphere would be ideal to be ready.”

Bruce and Tony looked at each other and nodded. “Given our guesses as to the nature of the research,” Bruce started to say, “if you don’t need us for more planning we can see about gathering a few things that might be helpful to bring along into the facility.”

“We’ll let you know when we’re ready to move.”

Tony gestured towards Thor with one hand. “And are you absolutely certain you don’t want a suit as your backup?”

“Thank you, but a single bunker should hardly be an issue.”

“Uhuh. Well, we’ll probably be in or by the lab if you think of some other reason why you need us.”

As Tony and Bruce left the bridge Natasha asked, “Is this something Peggy helped to encourage?”

To the side, Steve perked up at the mention of Peggy’s name.

“Carter helped me to come by the information and together we decided to use this as an opportunity for the Avengers.”

“Well, we’ve definitely dealt with worse so this can’t be too bad.” Clint went back to the starmap and zoomed back out to view the surrounding space sector around the Helicarrier and Tyrador III. “Out of curiosity too, do we have any information on the intentions of that protoss war fleet?”

“Not yet, I was hoping to ask Foster and Lewis if they had any knowledge or theories about the fleet shortly however.”

After a moment of thoughtfully gazing at the starmap Steve asked, “Have we made any progress in determining a planetside base?”

Fury further zoomed out the view of the starmap. “Carter was checking in this planet cluster and said she would contact me about their potential likelihood at some point tomorrow.” He looked back to the screen. “How far out of a drop do you want from the facility?”

Natasha turned around and nodded towards Steve. “How’s your armor in undergrowth?”

“I can stay as mobile as someone in an environment suit.”

She turned back towards the screen. “It’ll take some hiking, but if we go here,” she pointed, “the trees should be enough to block the dropship from sight since they shouldn’t be looking for it on the horizon.”

“Do we have any idea what happens if someone at the facility sounds the alarm to someone off planet?” Steve asked.

“As best we can tell the nearest Dominion forces are on Furan. Regardless of if they send out a distress call or not, the Helicarrier should be able to get us well out of the area before any other forces can show up.”

Thor nodded. “And the rest of the planet looks to be free of other forces.”

Clint looked at Thor across the starmap. “If we have any air surprises you’ll probably be our first response with that hammer anyways.”

He chuckled. “As expected, and if I have learned anything about Stark in these last few days he will have his suits at the ready regardless of what we say.”

“Not that they don’t do their job, but I think I’d prefer him in his suit rather than his self-piloting designs there in the thick of it with me when it counts,” Steve commented.

“When we need him in an offensive role I’m sure he’ll get in the suit.” Clint moved back to look over the image of the facility with Natasha. “Depending on what the ground cover looks like could be a good rifle shot towards the Ghosts from there,” he said to her while pointing towards the appropriate section of the image.

“Depending.”

He discreetly glanced over his shoulder before murmuring, “It’s been a bit since we specifically went up against any Ghosts… do you think they’ll feel out your psionic ability before we can even sneak up on them?”

The corners of Natasha’s mouths tightened. “I believe so. It’s not exactly as though I can particularly dampen myself, but Nick also knew that before assigning this to us.” She almost imperceptibly tilted her head towards Thor and Steve. “Though they probably should be informed of the extent of my ability.”

Before Clint could reply, Thor spoke, addressing all of them. “So a planned two dropships? Stark, Banner, and I in one, the three of you in the other? And we’ll drop a ways off from the bunker and work our way into position.”

“With the comms open, just wait for our signal to proceed,” Natasha agreed. She moved back to by the starmap. “One important detail that I haven’t brought up yet about this though: while it shouldn’t be an issue to take care of the Ghosts, I won’t be able to entirely hide my psionic ability from their senses and they are likely to come looking.”

“Exactly how powerful a Ghost were you before you got out?” Steve gently asked after a moment of pause.

She attempted a casual shrug. “I broke the known scale on psionic ability. Whether or not they specifically heard about me at the Academy, they’ll feel me out. The good news about this is that we can flush them towards the open.”

“Which’ll make it easier to take them out from a distance so we don’t have to deal with them up close. How good an eye do you have for ranged combat, Rogers?”

“You’re definitely the better out of the two of us, but once they do get a bit close I’m more in my element,” he told Clint.

“You and I can head towards the Ghosts while Clint sets himself up as a sniper. The exact location that will be we can determine once we’re on the surface. With the Ghosts interested in me, that also leaves your timing a bit more open, Thor.”

“This ought to go well.”

“Is there anything more you need to specifically discuss before working on getting ready to go?” Fury asked.

Steve looked from Clint and Natasha to Thor, who all gave him a small shake of their heads, before refocusing on Fury. “I don’t believe so.”

“Excellent. We’ll have the dropship pilots ready for you once we’re well positioned. If you do need to look at the image of the facility again, come talk to one of these bridge techs.”

“Yes sir.”

As they left the bridge, Thor kept from chuckling until they were in the lift. “This ought to be interesting.”

“Here’s your new bonding exercise,” Natasha drily told Steve.

He wryly smiled. “Apparently.”


	4. Dark Harbingers

“I’ve got movement on the Ghosts. No cloaking for the moment,” Clint said over the comms.

“Copy that.”

Natasha looked over at Steve, both of them carefully crouching in the midst of a series of bushes. “If they change their minds, you should fall back.”

“You should know I don’t like running from a fight.”

“Does it really count as a fight if you can’t see them?” she lightly asked.

After a moment Steve chuckled. “I will grant you that you and Clint presently have the best capability of finding them through the cloaking. If we could get them in some mud I’d be at least that much more helpful though.”

“It would’ve been a good trap to prep if we would have had the time.” Natasha turned on her mic for the comms. “How far out are they?”

“Based on how fast they’re moving in the terrain… a couple minutes? Looks like they’ll try to come at you from the right too. Still no cloaking.”

“Tell us when you lose unaided visual.”

“Will do, Rogers.”

To the side, Natasha resisted a smile at the wry twist to Clint’s voice. They were relatively good at orders, still new to hearing them from someone they had just barely met.

She and Steve waited for several more moments in the bushes before Clint said anything more.

“They’re cloaked and incoming. Get them into position and we can do our thing. And I’ll update the others that they’re about ready to move.”

“Copy that,” Natasha murmured.

As the Ghosts came closer, she started to move away from Steve, staying low and cautious even as she cloaked. 

They angled off in her direction, putting the Ghosts midway between her and Steve.

Some of the planet’s local wildlife made squawks of surprise as one of the Ghosts stumbled forward, having been hit in the back of the head. The other Ghost immediately fired in Natasha’s direction while moving towards better cover as another of Clint’s shots hit the downed Ghost.

Steve guessed where Natasha was avoiding the other Ghost’s shots from as chips of bark flew off a row of trees.

“I can’t hit them behind that tree,” Clint informed over the comms.

Before Steve could start to give a response, a shot carried overhead from where he assumed Natasha to be, presumably intended for the other Ghost. He flattened himself to the ground while trying to maneuver to see anything of what was happening.

To his surprise, Natasha’s voice flashed across his mind. “Stay down!”

Psionic abilities were truly something when encountered in person.

After a couple more shots from the Ghost a choked noise came from the clearing. Steve cautiously looked up and didn’t see anything, but then, he had hardly expected to see anything in particular.

“What’s the situation down there?” Clint asked, his voice betraying a note of concern that only Natasha would have picked up on.

The Ghost fell to the ground with a small thud, their cloaking vanishing a second after they fell.

Steve cautiously came to his feet and briefly stared. “What happened there?”

Natasha uncloaked as she stepped out from underneath the trees. “Simply put we had a contest of the mind. They lost. It was the quickest response for what they had in mind offensively.”

“Are they dead or just deeply unconscious?” Clint asked.

“They won’t be getting back up,” Natasha evenly said. “You heading directly for the base?”

“On the way.”

While Clint and Natasha had talked, Steve had started shifting his comm connection to the whole team’s. “Ghosts are down, what is everyone else’s status?”

Natasha also shifted onto the team connection as Tony gave a response. “Thor seems to be singlehandedly handling that bunker as well as he said he could, looks like we should have a clear path into the facility shortly.”

“Glad to hear it, we’re on our way. Let us know if anything changes,” Steve said as he and Natasha started off towards the facility in step.

“You’re missing a hell of a sight,” Tony added on.

Steve smiled at the comment. “Maybe he’ll leave some for us to see.”

By the time Thor had fully taken out the bunker, Steve and Natasha had met up with Tony and Bruce, with Clint only a couple of minutes away.

Natasha gave an appraising nod in the bunker’s direction as Thor settled beside them from the air. “Impressive fireworks.”

He was grinning. “I haven’t tested myself in a while, it was a good experience.”

Tony clapped his hands together. “Look at us, rocking it with the teamwork today.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Steve started to say, “we’re not even inside yet.”

“Which we should do before they start placing too many calls,” Natasha said with a pointed look towards the facility. “I’ll cloak and lead the way.”

Bruce shifted. “They might have cloaking sensors.”

She shrugged while walking forward. “We won’t know until I’m inside, and if there is a third Ghost I’ll get their attention.”

“Guess I’ll just be heading towards the front doors then,” Clint said over the comms.

“See you then.”

After a beat Tony nudged Bruce’s side. “Everything alright?”

He nodded after a second’s pause. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s just… I feel like I’m sensing the zerg but it’s just not quite zerg enough.”

“There’s something subtly psionic too,” Natasha grimly added on.

“The other Ghost?” Steve asked.

“It’s possible, but I’d expect a stronger sense of them if that were the case.”

In the back of the group, Thor frowned. “Can you gather anything more?”

Bruce sighed and shook his head. “Probably not without seeing what we’re picking up on.”

“Then let’s make this as effective as possible.” Steve pointed at Tony and Bruce. “Hold to the back. Thor, you and I wait a few steps behind Romanoff while Barton brings up the rear. Once the path is clear you two can come in and tell us where else we need to go and what to do to figure out what this facility is.”

“My ETA is about a minute,” Clint helpfully added on over the comms.

“Good to know. Romanoff-.” Steve stopped as she applied her cloaking and went out of view. “Straight to the doors?”

“I’ll tell you when to move in.”

They all proceeded forward, everyone else somewhat cautiously considering they couldn’t actually see Natasha. As Steve and Thor approached the sides of the main doors, they slowly opened just enough for Natasha to slip through.

An interior guard had their back to her, allowing Natasha to sneak up behind him and deliver a solid hit to the back of the head before helping the guard quietly collapse to the ground. As she lowered the guard she looked around the entrance for anything or anyone else of note.

“It looks to be clear for now,” she announced over the comms.

“The zerg signal is definitely stronger as I move inside,” Bruce quietly said once they were beside Natasha before looking at her. “How’s the psionics?”

“Stronger. I’d guess it’s from the lower level.”

Bruce nodded, his mouth in a tight line.

Clint had caught up. “Looks like we’ve got the one way down and some more ground to this upper floor.”

“Stark, Banner, and Romanoff, take the lower level?” Steve suggested, “I’ll come with you if Thor and Barton feel like you can take this upper level by yourselves?”

“Sounds good,” Clint said with a nod.

Thor shifted his grip on his hammer. “We will alert you if we discover anything of particular interest.”

“Likewise.” Tony gestured in front of him. “I’m guessing you and Rogers want to lead the way, Romanoff?”

“Unless if you can freeze any more guards we encounter in their tracks,” she lightly commented as they headed towards the lift.

“Yeah, I’d much rather leave that to you.”

The lift doors opened as Steve pressed the button and he held the doors for them to enter.

“I could do with a shield in situations like this,” he wryly said as they started to descend.

Tony broke into a smile. “Talk to me later and I could help with that.”

Steve gave an approving nod. “I will.”

No one came at them or shouted any initial cries of alarm as the lift doors opened onto the lower floor. Regardless, Natasha and Steve cautiously stepped out first, scanning the area for any sign of movement or sensors they could trip.

“There’s noise from around the corner,” Bruce murmured. He had unconsciously balled up his hands into fists at his sides.

“Stay close,” Natasha murmured back as she and Steve crept forward.

The backs of several individuals in lab coats were facing them as they looked around the corner.

“Looks like less than five and just scientists,” Steve whispered.

“Here.” Natasha adjusted the visor on her harsh environment suit, darkening the view so that her face wasn’t visible from the outside. “Let me go in first, see if they figure me out.”

“What’s your signal?”

“When I tell you to come in,” she said without looking back.

The scientists jumped as Natasha walked up even with them.

“We weren’t expecting you down here,” one told her, carefully giving her a sideways glance. “Has there been a change in schedule?”

She shook her head. “No,” she clearly stated, loud enough to be heard around the corner, “just bringing in some others for some quality checking.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary-,” one of the scientists started to say just as Steve, Bruce, and Tony came around the corner. “Who are you?” they asked with a suspicious expression.

“Like she said, quality control.” Steve confidently walked up to the group of scientists.

“No one told us- hey!”

Natasha and Steve had simultaneously moved to take out the scientist nearest to each of them, the other scientists standing still in surprise for a moment. Tony did his best to grapple with one of the scientists, and between all of them Bruce proceeded forward towards a transparent cell wall, his expression drawn.

The other scientists tried to scramble to call for help, but they were quickly knocked out.

“How hard should it be to wake up one of these guys if we need them?” Tony asked as he helped to pull one scientist slightly aside.

“Not particularly difficult. It didn’t seem like they were going to let you and Banner look everything over though,” Natasha casually said while readjusting her visor.

Tony noticed Bruce’s state of distraction. “You picking up on something?”

“I…” He turned and looked back at Natasha. “Are you getting anything more?”

She walked up towards the cell wall and frowned at it. “There’s something psionic beyond this, what exactly that is I couldn’t tell you without seeing something.”

“That doesn’t sound very comforting,” Tony muttered as he started to look at a control panel by a holotable. “I know you’re distracted by whatever is down here but Bruce, do you want to come look at this?”

Bruce slowly nodded, his face pale as he turned towards Tony and walked over by the holotable, pulling up the various figures and data readings stored on it. He turned paler as he and Tony sorted through the research.

“What is it?” Steve cautiously asked.

“I won’t say that I understand all of it, but it looks like they were creating a cross between a zerg and protoss? Which would go to explain both of your reactions.”

Natasha’s eyes widened a touch. “They’re creating hybrids?”

“And they’re dangerous.” Bruce flicked through another data reading. “Their early experiments lost several scientists to their project as is, let alone as they’ve continued at making them.”

Steve frowned. “So what do we do about that?”

“Destroy it. Nothing good can come from these things,” Bruce firmly said.

“They have to have put a self-destruct button somewhere,” Tony murmured to himself, pressing various combinations into the holotable. As he pressed one button the cells lit up behind them, revealing the hybrids connected with tubing and surrounded by various needle-like objects. “Woah, okay.”

“I… think they’re starting to wake up.” Bruce started to look somewhat pained.

As the hybrids shifted, Natasha unwittingly took a step back.

“Any other ideas on where that presumable self-destruct is?” Steve asked, moving over to look on the panel between two cells for some obvious button.

“Somewhere accessible for if they start to act up?” As a groaning sound carried from inside the cells, Tony quickly tacked on, “And we should find it as quickly as possible. I think they’re responding to Bruce and Romanoff’s unique abilities and that can’t be good if that groaning is any indication.”

Bruce pointed at the holotable at the other end of the room. “I think I found it, but we need someone on both ends to trigger the sequence.”

Steve nodded and hurried to the other end. “Tell me what to do.”

“Here.” Natasha was visibly shaken but determinedly followed Steve to the other end of the room, flipping through the holotable interface. “Five minutes?” she asked Bruce.

“As long as Thor and Barton are aware.”

“They’ve been told to get out.”

“Right, psionics,” Tony muttered.

Bruce nodded. “Five minutes will be good,” he called back to Natasha.

They set the clock, a red light flashing and an alarm beginning to blare immediately.

The hybrid nearest Natasha managed to snap a few tubes off as it tried to move forward. She didn’t look away from it as she started to walk back in the direction of the lift. “The cell sequence should be blasting inner charges within a minute, but the hybrids don’t seem to be sitting still for that to happen.”

Steve pressed the button for the lift, the doors opening a half second after. “They sound angry.”

“The zerg part certainly feels something like that,” Bruce murmured as he pressed the base of his hand to his forehead while walking in.

Natasha slightly leaned back against the inside of the lift. “They’re tired of being tested and tortured by the research division. They’ve been trying to break out period, to learn more about the world, and Banner and I are especial curiosities to understand but we make them feel confused as to who’s whole.”

A heavy sounding thump carried from the lower level as the lift reached the upper floor.

“Well that can’t be good,” Tony lightly said.

Steve held the doors for the lift. “Could just be the charges.” 

Natasha and Bruce shared a sideways look. “It’s unclear,” she said while hurrying out of the lift.

They had all almost made it to the facility’s front doors when an ominous metal tearing sound carried from the direction of the lift.

Bruce swallowed. “One broke out of the cell before the charges.”

“We don’t know that they’ll get up here or how this place is going to self-destruct. We found the research and made a decision about what to do, now our priority is to clear the facility.”

As Steve finished, the metal from the area of the lift creaked.

“Just focus on moving,” Natasha tightly said, sticking to the rear of the group.

None of them said anything more as they left the facility and broke into a run in the direction of the dropship. They all were thrown slightly forward as a large explosion rocked the facility, but quickly managed to stay moving and on their feet.

Clint and Thor met them midway between the dropship and the facility.

“That explosion seemed a little early.”

Steve nodded at Clint. “Not our intention, but we were clear by the time it happened. My guess would be because of the loose hybrid.”

Thor’s brow creased. “A zerg and protoss hybrid, correct?”

“Yeah, and pretty ugly at that.” Tony waved a hand at Thor. “I got a couple pictures, I can show them off later.”

“Let’s just be hopeful that those hybrids are gone. We’re far enough away now and at worst it may have just been knocked unconscious by the blast, so I can’t pick up on any particularly strong psionic signals, but I’d rather not stick around to find out when we need to report this anyhow.”

“Agreed. Let’s get to the dropship.”

Clint and Natasha walked at the back of the group, Clint brushing his hand past hers. “You okay?” he murmured, low enough for only Natasha to hear.

“Psionically those hybrids are strong. It wasn’t hard to mitigate their signal, but it was briefly overwhelming with three of them there.”

He exhaled. “This is scary stuff.”

“Something to be aware of, though I think those less psionically gifted may be better off around them.”

“Fury’s gonna love to hear this.”

“That’s one word for it.”


End file.
